SLAC on Tap

SLAC has been bringing science to the Bay Area for over 60 years. SLAC on Tap events aims to teach the community about what we do through informal talks and interactive science demonstrations geared toward the general public. Have a drink (no host), learn about who we are and even do some science of your own.

Past events archive

Upcoming Event

Something is lurking in the dark. Dark matter makes up most of the matter in the universe, yet it continues to slip through our grasp. But could scientists be closing in? The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment recently made headlines after researchers...

SLAC on Tap

Oct 28

Past highlights

What do the sound of Rice Krispies and the motion of atoms and magnets have in common? Join us at the Dutch Goose for SLAC on Tap on April 14 at 5:30 pm to hear for yourself. SLAC scientist Joshua...

Electrons are tiny, charged particles with huge jobs: They hold all matter together, they drive the chemical reactions that power life, and they transport information and energy across the globe. Despite their importance, we still don’t fully understand how they...

At CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), protons collide at nearly the speed of light, unleashing a particle party that might reveal secrets beyond our wildest theories. But sifting through that data is like looking for a needle in a haystack—a...

Discovering millions of galaxies and unraveling the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy is far out! Join us at the Dutch Goose for SLAC on Tap on August 22 at 5 pm, when SLAC engineer Hannah Pollek will talk...

Double your pressure, double your fun! Join us for SLAC on Tap on May 9, when SLAC scientist and rock star Arianna Gleason will share the amazing secrets scientists are trying to squeeze from the depths of Earth and other...

Presented by Johanna Nelson Weker. X-ray vision might sound like the stuff of superheroes and science fiction, but at SLAC’s Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) it’s what allows scientists to peer inside batteries and see what makes them tick.

Staff scientist Johanna Nelson Weker gives a talk about pushing the battery revolution.

In the film Diamonds are Forever, James Bond’s archnemesis uses diamonds to build a space-based laser weapon that can blow up stuff on Earth. SLAC physicist and Bond villain in training Emma McBride, however, uses lasers to mimic the extreme...

An audience sits on a patio listening to a science talk and demonstration.

Presented by Margaux Lopez.

Join us for the inaugural SLAC on Tap event at The Patio in Palo Alto. SLAC scientist Alan Fry will chat about lasers not attached to sharks, ultrafast science and the quantum mechanics of your sunglasses. Have a drink, learn...

SLAC on Tap

SLAC on Tap: Night of the Dark Matter

Past highlights

Atoms in slow motion, the skyrmion, and crackling magnets: the hidden world of quantum materials

Attoseconds, X-Ray Lasers, and Tracking Sub-Atomic Sheepdogs

The Fundamental Universe, Looking for Zebras, and the World’s Largest Demolition Derby

What’s the (dark) Matter with our Universe? Rubin Observatory is on the Case!

Shocking to the Core: Adventures in Earth Science

A battery walks into a bar...

Diamonds are (not) forever

What on earth do Maseratis, ice hockey and corgi puppies have to do with telescopes?

Lasers not attached to sharks, ultrafast science and the quantum mechanics of your sunglasses